Solon to affected folk: ‘Prepare anytime to evacuate’
Mayon spews hot volcanic particles, gases
ALBAY Rep. Joey Salceda has assisted the local government unit in reminding the people residing within the seven to eight-kilometer danger zone to prepare to evacuate after the majestic Mayon Volcano on Friday night spewed hot volcanic particles and gases.
Salceda said the heightened Mayon volcanic activity means evacuation within the seven to eight-kilometer danger zone should be ready and full evacuation of 30,000 more evacuees could take days without more vehicles ready.
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said Mayon Volcano on Friday night emitted hot volcanic particles, with ash fall reaching Tabaco City in Albay.
Phivolcs said the pyroclastic density current (PDC) lasted some four minutes and traveled around three to four kilometers downslope.
The series of PDCs began at 6:09 p.m. on Friday on the Basud Gully, the eastern flank of Mayon Volcano, which is under Alert Level 3.
The occurrence of PDCs led the Phivolcs to issue a notice of “increased activity” on the volcano’s summit crater.
Phivolcs said with the “heightened activity” by Mayon Volcano, residents in the seven to eight – km. danger zone should be prepared to evacuate “at a moment’s notice” and that “mobility assets should be ready as this could take days to complete.”
“At a moment’s notice, at least 8,000 additional families or 30,000 individuals will need to be evacuated. Again, that’s on top of the ones we already evacuated. You could imagine the number of mobility assets we will need to move them,” Salceda said.
“Even with the mobility assets already deployed by the Armed Forces of the Philippines to support evacuation, we estimate it will take threeand a half days, given time-and-motion calculations,” the solon added.
Salceda also recalled that “with enough mobility, its possible to move that number of evacuees during the same day.
“During my time as governor, in 2010, we were able to move evacuees within an afternoon. By 6 pm, evacuation was complete. We had to requisition the vehicles that we can,” the Albay lawmaker said.
He also reiterated his appreciation for efforts by the national government to prepare food aid for an increase in evacuees.
“I reiterate my thanks to the President and his team for their quick response to our needs for food assistance and economic support. At least we will not have to worry about how to feed evacuees when we have to evacuate more,” Salceda said. By Jane Eleda and Jester Manalastas
